Illinois
4 people wounded in 3 shootings within 24 hours in Evanston, Illinois
Be the first to know
Get browser notifications for breaking news, live events, and exclusive reporting.
Illinois
TCT #redbirds connect with community through ISU CTEP summer immersion
Illinois State University’s Chicago Teacher Education Pipeline (CTEP) had a blast this summer with all four cohorts in the Teach Chicago Tomorrow (TCT) program following Illinois State pathways.
With the program in its fourth year, the impact of summer immersion programming across the years was evident. Depending on their year in the program, students participated in scaffolded community and school experiences that build on each other toward the central goal connecting future Chicago Public School (CPS) teachers to the CTEP model of the community-minded teacher.
TCT scholars participated in experiences in Illinois State partner communities across Chicago, shadowed current CPS teachers, attended professional development workshops, spent time with community families, and visited campus.
As their educator journey continues, summer immersion keeps TCT scholars grounded in their “why.” A rising sophomore said, “I want to connect and guide the students to envisioning a better future for themselves and the community by first guiding them to be the best version of themselves.”
Each summer, as the scholars progress through the CTEP program, they deepen their knowledge of what it means to be a community teacher and see the neighborhood surrounding a school through an assets-based lens: “Every community has someone who needs help and has members that will support them.” Another rising junior noted, “These (community) experiences are most impactful because I learned that there are resources around communities that can be useful as an upcoming teacher.”
Spending time with children and current teachers are key components of summer immersion. One rising freshman said, “I loved working with the kids and getting a chance to show the skills I’ve learned in my (high school) CTE program.” Shadowing current CPS teachers is always a top highlight. As a rising junior said, “Being able to actually go to a classroom and be involved with students renewed my motivation to teach.” Another noted, “I got the chance to talk to teachers about my fears.”
One new experience for the rising seniors was an independent immersive experience with a community family who has children in CPS. As the scholars go into their final year of their education program, this experience provided them with an authentic opportunity to engage directly with a family as a future teacher. One scholar said: “Meaningful (community/family) engagement can help teachers gain a better understanding of what their students go through on a daily basis. This is an experience that I will carry with me when I teach.”
Summer immersion is a critical piece of the TCT-Illinois State CTEP partnership providing connective experiences across the four years of study. Students build on their knowledge while connecting with ISU faculty and staff, current CPS teachers, PreK-12 students, community scholars and, importantly, each other. CTEP is thrilled to be a part of this impactful and effective program supporting TCT #Redbird scholars and future CPS teachers.
Illinois
Winning $900K jackpot ticket sold online in Illinois
ILLINOIS (WLS) — An Illinois resident woke up $900,000 richer this week.
ABC7 Chicago is now streaming 24/7. Click here to watch
The player won the jackpot by matching all five numbers of Sunday’s Lucky Day Lotto midday drawing, according to Illinois Lottery.
READ ALSO | Self-dubbed ‘King of Cash’ wins $3 million on scratch-off ticket
The winner purchased the ticket online. The winning numbers were: 8-14-20-24-27.
Winners have one year from the date of the winning draw in which to claim their prize.
It’s unknown where the resident is from in Illinois. It’s also unknown if the winner has already claimed their prize.
READ ALSO | $2 million winning Powerball ticket sold at Logan Square grocery store
Copyright © 2024 WLS-TV. All Rights Reserved.
Illinois
Exonerees share stories at Illinois police trainings aimed at preventing wrongful convictions
CHICAGO (WLS) — It has been called an American epidemic.
Wrongful convictions have led to people who were later exonerated losing more than 21,000 years in U.S. prisons. Illinois is the top state in the country for wrongful convictions.
ABC7 Chicago is now streaming 24/7. Click here to watch
Now, the state agency that oversees police training is mandating classes aimed at eliminating that.
Exonerees share their stories with police cadets.
“My name is Marvin Cotton Jr. and I served 19 years, seven months and 12 days in prison for crime that I did not commit,” one exoneree said.
“My feet touched the penitentiary grounds January 1996. I just turned 19 years old,” another said.
It is a critical part of Wrongful Conviction Awareness and Avoidance Training.
LAW$UIT CITY: Taxpayers paid $80M+ to resolve CPD misconduct lawsuits in 2023, records show
“Not only the first state to mandate it, but it’s the first state to have this training. To our knowledge, when there’s nobody else in the country that is doing this type of training. And so, we’re very proud of that and proud that our legislatures thought enough of this program to make it a mandatory training to help right the wrongs of the past,” said Wrongful Conviction Awareness & Avoidance Director Marc Beach.
Mandated in 2022 and implemented last year by the Illinois Law Enforcement Training and Standards Board, the groundbreaking curriculum is being taught at all state police academies.
“It’s definitely an eye-opener. They embedded that into our brain since day one, the importance of treating people fairly and respect,” said Alex Orta with the Chicago Police Department.
The I-Team attended one in Decatur and another in Chicago.
“The numbers show that there are innocents in our in our criminal justice system that are being wrongfully accused and being held and punished for crimes they didn’t commit. And I feel like that’s something that should be brought up to the attention to new cadets in our academy to make us more aware before we even hit the streets, to have an open mind and to definitely get our policies and procedures correct,” said CPD’s Christian Ramos.
Forty-four training sessions have been held so far for 3,100 cadets, all new police officers who have attended an academy class since March 2023.
Beach is the director of the program.
READ MORE | City will pay $62.5M to victims of disgraced CPD Detective Reynaldo Guevara
“I spent 23 years as a police officer,” Beach said. “I actually had no idea that wrongful convictions were really even an issue. The system that I represent would do that to somebody, and it would get it wrong. And so, I said, you know, I have to I have to do something to make that better.”
Data gathered by the Illinois Innocence Project is integral to the curriculum.
“We just want to help going forward to prevent wrongful convictions from happening in the future,” said Illinois Innocence Project Interim Director Stephanie Kamel.
Lauren Kaeseberg is the Illinois Innocence Project legal director.
“The most meaningful aspect of it is meeting face-to-face with an exoneree. Like, when you have that proximity and that human connection with someone who’s been through this, the system, getting it so wrong, it’s hard to not be impacted by that,” Kaeseberg said.
Cadets told the ABC7 I-Team that hearing from exonerees first-hand is impactful.
“Heartbroken, for sure, for that person and their families, and not being able to imagine what that feels like having gone through that situation, but also honored. And like, there’s sort of a privilege to take on the next role and do what I can, and hopefully learn everything that I can and hold other people around myself accountable,” said Carson Stewart with the Springfield Police Department.
SEE ALSO | Unprecedented data project exposes what advocates call wrongful conviction crisis in Chicago
“Do thorough investigations, making sure that, of course, our integrity is on point,” said Courtney Williams with the Matteson Police Department.
Program leaders say their goal is to expand the training to include more experienced officers and more.
“There’s been so much interest from other states to replicate what we’re doing other places,”‘ Kaeseberg said.
“I have some pretty lofty goals of not just improving the system here in the state of Illinois but taking it across the country and even internationally. Ultimately, no innocent person belongs in prison,” Beach said.
Even though Illinois leads the nation for the most overturned wrongful convictions, it has one of the lowest reimbursement programs, maxing out at $225,000. Some lawmakers are trying to get that cap increased to $2 million.
Copyright © 2024 WLS-TV. All Rights Reserved.
-
Mississippi1 week ago
MSU, Mississippi Academy of Sciences host summer symposium, USDA’s Tucker honored with Presidential Award
-
Politics1 week ago
Republicans say Schumer must act on voter proof of citizenship bill if Democrat 'really cares about democracy'
-
Culture1 week ago
He raped a 12-year-old a decade ago. Now, he’s at the Olympics
-
World1 week ago
More right wing with fewer women – a new Parliament compendium
-
World1 week ago
Israel says Hezbollah crossed ‘red line’, strikes deep inside Lebanon
-
News1 week ago
Sonya Massey death brings fresh heartache to Breonna Taylor, George Floyd activists
-
News1 week ago
U.S. men's gymnastics team breaks 16-year Olympic drought with a team bronze
-
Politics1 week ago
Schumer calls on Trump to pick new running mate, claims Vance is 'best thing he's ever done for Democrats'